​Birth is a time when women should feel safe, loved and comfortable. A time where she should feel like she is in the driver’s seat of this life changing event. But today many women are feeling the opposite. There is a sense of fear, uneasiness and loss of control surrounding birth. This is having a huge effect on the birth physiology.

I will never forget all the fears and uncertainty I had when I found out I was pregnant for the first time almost 13 years ago. I felt so lost in this unknown journey I was about to walk through. I have read and heard about the usual expectations of some pregnancies such as body aches, morning sickness, fatigue, mood swings, cravings, constipation, and the list goes on, but I didn’t seem quite prepared for the other part of the journey. There are much more than the symptoms of pregnancy I wish I had known about, such as:

​Once upon of time I was pregnant with my first daughter (2nd pregnancy). I thought I knew all to expect since I was pregnant before but didn’t realize how different pregnancies can be. This time I had longer morning sickness that lasted well beyond the first trimester and I had many different aches and pains that made it difficult to even get out of bed. After 4 pregnancies, many aches and pains I finally put together this list of must-haves which could have been useful from even my first pregnancy.

At 20 years old first time pregnancy I had no clue what I was in for. I heard many birth stories from relatives growing up but honestly I had very little knowledge on the birthing process. I figured you feel contractions that brought on pain; you head to the hospital and have a baby. That was my take on the whole process during that time in my life. Oh and C-section, that was not going to happen to me. That only happens during rare emergency situations. But not me as most of my relatives including my mother had all vaginal births. Well 12 years later experience and learning changed my ways of thinking. After my first 2 were born via C-section I started to research more as I was planning for a VBAC with my 3rd baby.

Five years ago if someone would have mentioned the thought of my children being present at the birth of my third baby, I would have said no way. But after her birth it became something to think about for future births. My children were not in the house during the labor portion of the homebirth of my third baby. But were later brought to my home during the pushing stage and were spending that time downstairs, in the living room. They became restless downstairs and came up wanting to see their sibling being born. Before this time I had spent nearly two hours pushing and as soon as I knew my children were nearby knocking at my room door my third baby was finally making an exit out of my whom and into mine and my husband’s hands. It appeared that I needed the comfort

"When we become so confident has to believe that we can reproduce and redesign such a complex events as birth, we are assuming that we can, indeed, play God." Nancy Wainer Cohen & Lois j. Estner

There has been a rise in labor Induction in recent years and it is becoming more common. There are mixed reviews and studies when it comes to labor induction, making it difficult for women to make informed choices during labor and birth. Induction of labor should not be taken lightly as inducing labor may have an effect on a birthing woman and her baby. ​